[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32205-32207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15583]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6107-3]
Proposed Determination of Attainment of the Air Quality in the
Liberty Borough, Pennsylvania PM-10 Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed finding of attainment and withdrawal of previously
proposed finding.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to find that air quality in the Liberty
Borough, Pennsylvania moderate nonattainment area has attained national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter of nominal
aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 micrometers (PM-10). The Clean
Air Act (the Act) establishes a December 31, 1994 attainment date for
moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas, and requires EPA to determine the
attainment status of such areas by June 30, 1995. For the reasons
explained herein, this proposed finding is based on monitored air
quality data for the area during the years 1995-1997. EPA is also
withdrawing its previous September 19, 1995 proposal to find that the
area did not attain the NAAQS. Elsewhere in the Proposed Rules section,
EPA is also proposing to approve the Allegheny County Health
Department's (ACHD's) attainment demonstration, submitted to EPA by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that the state implementation plan (SIP)
requirements for the Liberty Borough area are sufficient to attain and
maintain the NAAQS. In the same document EPA is also proposing to
approve contingency measures for the area. In the Final Rules section
of today's Federal Register, EPA is taking direct final action to
approve a SIP revision requiring additional control measures at the USX
Clairton coke works. On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for
particulate matter. In this document, ``NAAQS'' and ``PM-10 NAAQS''
refer only to the previously existing NAAQS that were in effect at the
time that the attainment plan was submitted.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 13, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Makeba Morris, Chief, Technical
Assessment Branch, Mailcode 3AP22, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19107. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air,
Radiation, and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 and
the Allegheny County Health Department, Department of Air Quality, 301
39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denis M. Lohman, (215) 566-2192, or by
e-mail at lohman.denny@epamail.epa.gov. While requests for information
may be made via e-mail, comments for EPA's consideration regarding this
proposal must be submitted in writing to the address indicated above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. Clean Air Act Requirements
Upon enactment of Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, PM-10 areas
meeting the criteria of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Act was designated
nonattainment by operation of law. Once an area is designated
nonattainment, section 188 of the Act outlines the process for
classification of the area and establishes the area's attainment date.
Pursuant to section 188(a), all PM-10 nonattainment areas were
initially classified as moderate by operation of law upon designation
as nonattainment, and the attainment date for these areas were December
31, 1994. These nonattainment designations and moderate area
classifications were codified in 40 CFR part 81 on November 6, 1991 (56
FR 56694).
States containing areas which were designated as moderate
nonattainment by operation of law under section 107(d)(4)(B) were to
develop and submit SIPs to provide for the attainment of the PM-10
NAAQS. Those SIPs were to include the adoption and implementation of
PM-10 reduction requirements which constitute reasonably available
control measures, (RACM), including reasonably available control
technology (RACT). Pursuant to section 189(a)(2) of the Act, those SIP
revisions were to be submitted to EPA by November 15, 1991. Section
188(c)(1) sets December 31, 1994 as the attainment date, and section
188(b)(2) requires that EPA determine the attainment status of the area
by June 30, 1995. EPA is guided in these determinations by 40 CFR 50.6
and 40 CFR part 50, appendix K.
B. Regulatory Activity to Date
On January 6, 1994, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADEP) submitted an attainment plan to EPA, produced by the
Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), for the Liberty Borough PM-
10 nonattainment area.1 The purpose of this revision to the
Pennsylvania SIP is to fulfill the requirements under section 189 of
the Act for a regulatory plan to attain the PM-10 NAAQS and to submit a
demonstration (including air quality modeling) that the plan is
sufficient to attain this goal. These ``Part D'' requirements are
described in more detail in the technical support document (TSD) to
this rulemaking. On April 11, 1995, EPA proposed to fully approve the
January 1994 attainment plan submittal, as well as two SIP revisions
that the County had submitted previously (see 60 FR 18385). After EPA
proposed to approve the County's demonstration, the County reported
that the PM-10 NAAQS had been exceeded twice in March of 1995. These
exceedances brought the adequacy of the County's attainment plan into
doubt, and, though EPA took final action to approve the regulatory
portion of the attainment plan (61 FR 29664), EPA took no action on the
modeled attainment demonstration at that time.
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\1\ The Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area is comprised of
the City of Clairton and the Boroughs of Glassport, Liberty,
Lincoln, and Port Vue.
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Pursuant to its obligations under section 188(b)(2), on September
19, 1995, EPA proposed to find that the Liberty Borough moderate
nonattainment area did not attain the NAAQS (60 FR 48439). This
proposal was based on the available air quality data at the time, which
showed that the number of expected exceedances of the
[[Page 32206]]
daily NAAQS (i.e., the number of exceedances per years expected when
missing data and/or trends are taken into account) exceeded the NAAQS
criterion of 1.0 expected exceedances per year. EPA based its
attainment determination on air quality data monitored in the
nonattainment area from 1992 to 1994, the three most recent calendar
years of data available at the time of proposal. In addition, two
exceedances already monitored in 1995 reflected full implementation of
the attainment SIP.
C. The GASP Lawsuit
On February 21, 1996, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP),
a citizen environmental advocacy group, sued EPA in order to compel EPA
action on a number of planning activities regarding the Liberty Borough
area. The Settlement Agreement reached on this suit requires, among
other things, that EPA determine the attainment status of the Liberty
Borough area by March 31, 1998, in light of air quality data collected
from 1995 through 1997. The TSD prepared for this rulemaking provides a
more detailed summary of the Settlement Agreement's provisions. Copies
of the TSD are available upon request from the EPA Regional Office
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
D. Revisions to the PM NAAQS
On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for particulate
matter.2 Currently, both the pre-existing and revised NAAQS
are in effect in the Liberty Borough area. In this document, ``NAAQS''
and ``PM-10 NAAQS'' refer to the previously existing NAAQS that were in
effect at the time and for which the Liberty Borough area was
classified as moderate nonattainment on November 6, 1991.
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\2\ See 62 FR 38652.
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II. Rationale for Today's Proposed Action
Air quality has improved in the Liberty Borough nonattainment area
since 1995, when EPA proposed to find that the area did not attain the
PM-10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994 attainment date. (See Table 1,
below) Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, EPA has waited until three
years of air quality data which reflect full implementation of the
County's attainment SIP were available. The data, which were collected
by a monitoring network that meets the requirements of 40 CFR part 58,
show that the air quality of the area has attained the NAAQS. The
number of expected exceedances per year are 0.67, which is less than
the 1.0 allowed by the NAAQS. Although one monitoring station was out
of service during part of the first quarter of 1995, ACHD has credibly
determined that it is unlikely that any exceedances of the NAAQS were
missed. More detail is provided in the TSD, referenced above.
Table 1.--Exceedances of the 24-hour PM-10 NAAQS Measured in Liberty
Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area 1992-1997 (g/m3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lincoln Lincoln
Date Hi-Vol TEOM Liberty
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1992-1994
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1/28/92................................... ........ ........ 175
12/15/92.................................. 186 ........ ........
5/10/93................................... 167 ........ ........
11/23/93.................................. 223 195 ........
2/19/94................................... 163 ........ ........
3/7/94.................................... 157 ........ ........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1995-1997
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3/12/95................................... 193 ........ 188
3/13/95................................... 209 193 ........
1996......................................
(2) No exceedances.
1997......................................
(2) Do.
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The 24-hour PM-10 National Ambient Air Quality Standard is 150 g/m3.
The NAAQS is attained at any location when the expected number of
exceedances per year is to 1.0.
The Lincoln station reported incomplete data for the first quarter of
1995.
The Lincoln Hi-Vol was discontinued during the second quarter of 1996.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to find, pursuant to section 188(b)(2), that the
Liberty Borough moderate nonattainment area has attained the NAAQS for
PM-10. EPA is withdrawing its September 1995 proposal to find that the
area did not attain the NAAQS.
Nothing in this proposal should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to a SIP shall be
considered separately in light of specific technical, economic and
environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and
regulatory authority.
IV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
B. Executive Order 13045
The proposed rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks,'' because it is not an ``economically significant'' action under
E.O. 12866.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small
entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises,
and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than
50,000.
Determinations of attainment under the Clean Air Act do not impose
any new requirements on small entities. Therefore, EPA certifies that
this determination does not have a significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
D. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to
private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA must
select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that
achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly
or uniquely impacted by the rule. EPA has determined that the approval
action being proposed does not include a Federal mandate that may
result in estimated costs of $100 million or more to either State,
local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to the private
sector. This Federal action approves pre-existing requirements under
State or local law, and imposes no new requirements. Accordingly, no
additional costs to State, local, or tribal governments, or to the
private sector, result from this action.
The Regional Administrator's final decision to find that the
Liberty Borough area attained or did not attain the NAAQS will be based
on sections 179(c) and 188(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and
EPA regulations in 40 CFR part 50.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
[[Page 32207]]
Dated: May 28, 1998.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 98-15583 Filed 6-11-98; 8:45 am]
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